Bayside Academy was looking for a little payback after a 25-point loss to ACA last year. The Admirals dominated from start to finish in a convincing 35-7 defeat of the Eagles on Senior Night. ACA will have to forget this loss quickly as they prepare for postseason play next week. As for Bayside, they will have to clean up the undisciplined play that brought five personal fouls against them on the night.
After a long kick return set them up with great field position, the visitors marched down the field for a touchdown to open the scoring Friday night. Bayside must have seen something on the left side of the Alabama Christian defense as they ran to the right on six of the eight plays on the drive. ACA started their first drive deep in their own territory after a block in the back call on the kick return. The Eagles managed one first down on a ten-yard run by Christian Snipes, but punted three plays later. After an incomplete pass, a Bayside back produced a 66-yard run down to the Eagle’s five-yard line. Ari Bowman never gave up on the play to make the tackle after the long run. Two plays later, the Admirals scored to extend the lead to 14-0. Once again, the offense managed one first down, on a fourth down conversion, but had to punt the ball away. It’s not often a player is penalized for two different infractions on the same play, but a Bayside lineman pulled it off on the first play of their third drive. After being called for holding during the play a personal foul was tacked on as he shoved the ACA defender to the ground well after the whistle. The result was a 1st and 34 hole for the Admiral’s offense. The extra curricular activity seemed to wake up the Eagle defense as Blake Shaw and Jalen Flowers combined on a sack on the next play to push Bayside even further back. The first period ended with a punt to ACA and hopes that some momentum was swinging the way of the home team.
An 11-yard run by David Ortiz-Ramirez took the ball to the Bayside 31-yard line and the Eagles looked ready to take advantage of their opponents' mistakes. On a 4th and 7 from the 28-yard line, Alabama Christian went for it, but an Admiral defender picked off the pass and raced 75 yards for a Bayside score to make the score 21-0 with 8:10 left in the first half. Both teams had the ball one more time before the half, but neither team scored. For ACA, the highlights of the two drives were a 12-yard run by David Ortiz-Ramirez on offense and a sack by Spencer Meeks on defense. ACA would get the ball first in the second half and looked to cut the deficit with points on their first drive.
William Milner opened the second half with a 12-yard run and after another personal foul by Bayside two plays later, ACA had the ball on the Admiral 32-yard line. The next play produced a second interception for Bayside to end the Eagle threat. The visitors drove deep into ACA territory and looked poised to extend the lead until an Ari Bowman interception turned the ball back over to the home team. The offense was never able to sustain a drive all night and the next ACA possession was no different. After picking up one first down, the Eagles punted the ball away. On the second play of the ensuing drive, Bayside stretched the lead to 28-0 with a 45-yard run through the defense with 3:11 left in the third period. On the last drive of the third quarter, ACA took advantage of yet another Bayside personal foul and took the ball down to the Admiral 28-yard line. Unfortunately, the possession ended with Bayside’s third pick of the night which was returned to ACA’s 35-yard line. Two plays later, the visitors scored again to run the score to 35-0 with 9:58 left in the game.
At this point of the game you would think both teams would just want to get out of there as the competitive portion of the game was over. However, Bayside continued to be aggressive and amass penalty yardage. The next Eagles drive was extended due to a roughing the kicker call against Bayside. ACA turned the ball over for the fourth time on a fumble to give the ball back to the visitors. With just over six minutes left in the game and a thirty-five point lead, the Admiral coaching staff thought it would be a good idea to keep throwing the ball. It felt like Bayside was trying to embarrass ACA or it could have been a total lack of game awareness or respect for the game and your opponent. Whatever the reason, it was not a good look for Bayside. After two completions, Lane Smith put an end to the passing foolishness with a sack that forced a fumble which was recovered by Blake Shaw. Now with just under five minutes to go, the light bulb came on and the Admirals started subbing freely. The last drive of the night was the Cooper Milner show. The freshman ran the ball on seven of the eight plays of the drive and scored ACA’s only points of the game with just under a minute left. Older brother William was the first to meet him for congratulations on the sidelines for a nice moment to end the night.
Four players, Jaylan McCovery, William Milner, Blake Shaw, and Spencer Meeks, each had four tackles to lead the defense. Milner became just the eighth player in program history to have at least 200 tackles for their career. Ari Bowman had an interception while Shaw, Meeks, Jalen Flowers, and Lane Smith all had sacks. Christian Snipes led the ground game with 49 yards on 14 carries and added 61 yards through the air on nine completions. David Ortiz-Ramirez finished with 33 yards, all in the first half, on eight attempts while Cooper Milner had 32 yards on ten carries and a touchdown. Bowman led the receivers with three catches for 24 yards while TJ Merritt had two receptions for 21 yards.
Next week, Alabama Christian travels to Dothan to face Houston Academy in the first round of the playoffs.